Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi David Shapiro on 24 January 1968

Contributor(s): David Shapiro and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on: 16 January 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 90th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Containment, English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Joint warfare in South Vietnam, North Korea–United States relations, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot, USS Pueblo (AGER-2)

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi David Shapiro, Temple Sinai, Hollywood, Florida
Date of Prayer: 24 January 1968
Sponsor: n/a

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Master of the Universe: In these soul-stirring times, we need Thy guidance and Thy blessing. Serious is the challenge that freedom-loving America faces.
	We seek peace, but we must safeguard life and liberty from the possible onslaughts by godless, ruthless, and unprincipled aggressors.^[1] A familiar anti-communist posture expressing alignment with the United States foreign policy of ‘containment.'
	While we must develop superior military might and diplomatic competence, we must also be filled with Thy holy spirit.
	To win friends among wavering nations and to influence those who are on our side to continue to side with us, we must manifest by our own righteous conduct, the righteousness of the American way of thinking and living.
	Bless Thou the Members of this great legislative body, the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate and the President of the United States of America, who have been chosen by the citizens of our country to preserve and advance our precious democracy.
	May this land, under Thy providence, be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting men in peace and freedom, and helping to fulfill the vision of Thine inspired prophets, Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall men learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4) Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered near the beginning of the second session of the 90th US Congress. The general context of the prayer was the war in Vietnam, but also the seizure of the USS Pueblo by North Korea in international waters on 23 January, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.

The source image of the prayer were copied by Howard Mortman and shared via his @CongressRabbi Twitter account. All credit to Howard Mortman for his research in digging up this prayer. Unfortunately, neither the source images nor his tweets provide an exact citation reference to the volume, issue, and page number of the Congressional Record in which the prayer was published. If you know, leave a comment, or contact us.

Source(s)

Prayers of the Guest Chaplain (David Shapiro, 24 January 1968)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	A familiar anti-communist posture expressing alignment with the United States foreign policy of ‘containment.'

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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi David Shapiro on 24 January 1968” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

David Shapiro

David Shapiro was a Conservative movement rabbi who led Temple Sinai (Hollywood, Florida) from 1953-1981. Alas, we have been unable to gather much more information on Rabbi Shapiro. If you can help us fill out this short biography, please contact us.

the Congressional Record of the United States of America

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)

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Works of related interest:

Flag of the United States House of Representatives

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Morris M. Shapiro on 8 April 1975

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arthur T. Buch on 1 April 1968

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon on 2 May 1968

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Max A. Shapiro on 15 April 1985

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Nathan Zolondek on 28 January 1975

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman on 29 January 1958

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Max Raisin on 30 January 1947

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17